


In Your Arms

by tabbytabbytabby



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [21]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Blood and Injury, Character Death, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic, Established Relationship, Fluff, Greenberg's Name Is Zac, Hurt Danny Mahealani, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Werewolf Bites
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 20:23:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17474372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabbytabbytabby/pseuds/tabbytabbytabby
Summary: When Danny and Zac move out of Beacon Hills, they think they've left the supernatural world behind them. Unfortunately, it catches up to them.





	In Your Arms

**Author's Note:**

> For the Dying in Their Arms slot of Bad Things Happen Bingo. 
> 
> This has not been beta read, so any mistakes are my own. If you see any, please let me know and I'll get them fixed.

Zac thought that when he left Beacon Hills that he would be done with the supernatural. Logically, he knows that werewolves and all the other creatures aren’t just limited to the town. But it was easier to let himself believe that he’d never come across them again. At least not in the way he had back there. It had all been too much. That’s why it had been all too easy to take Danny up on his offer to leave for college.

The past few years have been great. They’re living in New York City, which has dangers of its own. But they’re human. They’re manageable.

He feels safe here in the apartment he shares with Danny. They have a good life together. Something he never thought possible back in Beacon Hills. They’re both in their final year of college, and their relationship is strong. They’re happy.

It’s late when Zac gets out of his last class for the day. He’d stayed over for a study session with some of his classmates, knowing a few of them were needing help on some of the topics for their next exam. He’s feeling pretty comfortable in the area so he’d offered to help go over it with them.

Now that he’s on his way home at almost 11 o’clock at night and taking the nearly deserted subway, he’s wishing he would have asked them to meet up during the day. He’s just glad he doesn’t have class tomorrow so he doesn’t have to worry about getting up. And Danny’s supposed to be off. Which means they’re going to have the whole day together. Something he’s been looking forward to.

When the subway reaches his stop, he stands and grabs his bag before heading out of the door. There’s no one else on the platform, making it seem creepier than normal. The subway leaves in a flash, and Zac is left standing there alone.

He starts towards the stairs, trying to shake off the feeling that something isn’t right. He just needs to make it up stairs and in a few blocks he’ll be home.

His foot is barely on the bottom step when he finds himself being grabbed from behind by his backpack. He goes stumbling backwards, landing on the platform with a pained groan. He looks up and feels his breath catch. He’s looking up into blazing red eyes. An alpha.

He scurries backwards, trying to put some distance between them, but the alpha follows. He growls and throws himself on Zac, straddling him.

“You should really know better than to come out alone at night,” the man tells him.

Zac can’t help the shudder of fear that goes through him. He thinks of Danny, waiting alone in their apartment for him to come home. He wonders if he’ll make it there.

“If you’re going to kill me, just do it,” Zac spits out, hoping he sounds braver than he feels.

The wolf chuckles before leaning down at sniffing at his neck, “Oh I’m not going to kill you.”

Zac’s panic grows. He knows what that means. He tries to push the alpha away, but it’s futile. He presses him further into the cold concrete platform and releases a low growl. Before Zac can do anything else he feels a sharp pain in his neck as fangs pierce his skin.

The sound of the next subway coming down the platform startles the alpha off of him. He disappears as quickly as he came, leaving Zac lying there on the platform. He gets to his feet, pulling his jacket tighter around him. Everything is a blur as he grabs his bag off the floor and starts towards the stairs again. The only thing that keeps him moving is Danny.

_Danny_.

Danny who told him the reason he and Ethan broke up was because he doesn’t want to date a werewolf. Whose boyfriend is now either going to become a werewolf or die from the bite on his neck. He almost considers not going home, but he knows Danny deserves better than that.

Danny is already in their bedroom when Zac gets home. He puts his bag down on the desk in the living room and kicks his shoes off, before quietly making his way towards the bathroom. There isn’t any noise or lights on, so he assumes Danny is asleep.

He takes off his shirt and then just stands there, staring at himself in the mirror. The bite is red and bloody and deep. He doesn’t know how long it usually takes before you know if it’s going to take or not. He never exactly had a werewolf coach or did much research on his own. It never seemed necessary.

“Zac?”

Zac almost jumps at the sound of Danny’s voice from behind him. He instinctively brings a hand up to cover the mark resting between his neck and shoulder. His eyes meet Danny’s in the mirror and he spots the frown there as Danny steps closer.

“What’s going on?”

The nothing is there, on the tip of his tongue. But he can’t force it out. He can’t bring himself to say anything other than “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Danny asks. His face is pinched in worry now. He rests a hand on Zac’s shoulder and tries to get him to turn around. “Hey. What is it?”

Zac opens his mouth but can’t bring himself to say the words. He shakes his head as tears sting at his eyes. The reality that he could be about to lose the man he loves hits him hard.

“Zac. Come on. Talk to me. You’re scaring me.”

Zac takes a deep breath and slowly removes his hand from the mark. He keeps his eyes down, not wanting to see the look on Danny’s face. Danny’s fingers clench on his shoulder, but he doesn’t move them away.

“What happened?” Danny asks him.

“I took the subway home,” Zac tells him, tears running down his cheeks. “I was going to the stairs and someone grabbed me from behind and threw me to the ground. I tried to fight him off but he was too strong. And then he bit me. Danny, it was an alpha.”

Zac tries not to flinch when Danny’s hand comes up and brushes around the edges of the march, “It’s healing.”

Zac wishes he could feel realized at that, but all the information does is bring on a new kind of worry, “I’m sorry.”

“Why do you keep apologizing?” Danny asks him. “You’re the one that was attacked.”

“I know how you feel about dating werewolves,” Zac chokes out. “And now I’m going to be one. Now you’re probably going to want to…”

“Shut up,” Danny hisses, sounding suddenly angry. “If you think for one second this changes the way I feel about you, you don’t know me that well.”

Zac’s eyes move up to meet Danny’s, and there’s a ferocity there he hasn’t seen in years. Not since the day he came to Zac telling him he loved him for the first time. “But…”

Danny’s hand moves up to grip his chin, “No buts. I l don’t care that you’re a werewolf, Zac. I loved you before and I still love you now. Nothing is going to change that. _Nothing_.”

Danny kisses him, urgently but still with a gentleness that Zac has only ever found with Danny. When he pulls back, there are tears of his own in his eyes. “I love you. You could have died tonight, but you’re here. You’re alive. We’ll figure this whole werewolf thing out, okay?”

Zac rests his forehead against Danny’s, taking in the way he can hear Danny’s heart beating in his chest. Steady and strong. “I love you too, Danny. So much.”

Turns out, figuring out the werewolf thing meant Danny calling Scott McCall and having him send someone to help Zac with his control. Zac wasn’t sure who he was expecting to see standing outside his apartment, but it certainly wasn’t Derek Hale, Isaac Lahey, and Stiles Stilinski.

“I can understand why Derek and Isaac are here because of the werewolf thing,” Danny says, looking over the two wolves before turning his attention to Stiles. “But why are you here?”

“Moral support,” Stiles grins.

“Zac doesn’t need moral support,” Danny tells him. “He has me.”

“Oh I didn’t mean for Greenberg,” Stiles says. “I meant for Derek.”

Derek rolls his eyes, “I don’t need moral support either, Stiles.”

“You’re just being nosy anyway,” Isaac tells him.

Stiles actually looks offended, “I am not! My interest here is purely selfless.”

It’s Danny’s turn to roll his eyes, “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Whatever reason you’re all here, I just need you to help Zac.”

Derek nods, “So let’s begin.”

It’s not easy. It’s hard. But Derek is actually a big help with figuring out the best way to keep control. He has to find his anchor. It’s not hard for Zac to figure out that it’s Danny. He’s always been the one to keep Zac calm, even as a human. It makes sense that he’d be able to do that now that Zac’s a werewolf.

Time passes and Zac gets used to the idea of being a werewolf. It definitely has its upsides. He likes that he can sense Danny better now by just his scent and the sound of his heartbeat. It takes a few weeks for Zac to learn how to tune out the sounds of the city so they’re overwhelming him, but once he does it makes things a lot easier.

He never sees the alpha that turned him again, and he doesn’t question why. He think Derek, Isaac, and Stiles might have had something to do with that. It’s probably best he doesn’t know exactly _how_. Without an alpha in the city, he becomes an honorary member of the Beacon Hills pack. He starts helping out when they need someone to do something in the area.

Time passes, and before Zac knows it he’s done with college and has a job as a nurse at the local hospital. It’s exhausting work, but he likes it. He tries to match his hours to Danny’s so that he’s working the same days Danny is. It doesn’t always work out like that, since Danny teaches during the week, and sometimes Zac has to work weekends. But they make do. He only has to work a few days a week anyway. Something he is grateful for.

Unfortunately another requirement of the job is that he has to work at least one major Holiday. Zac hates that he’s having to work on Christmas Eve. But it was either that or Christmas day, and he’d rather have Christmas with Danny. They can fall asleep together and wake up warm and snug in the morning, and open their presents before having breakfast together. Maybe Zac will get up early and make breakfast for Danny to surprise him. If he can manage to extract himself from Danny’s arms.

It’s that thought that gets him through the day. That and Danny’s frequent texts throughout the day, telling him exactly what he plans to do once he has Zac to himself tonight. Of course the night shift nurse gets in late, and he has to stay over to give report. So he doesn’t get out of the hospital until almost eight. And then the subway is late. So it’s going on ten before he’s getting off the train by their apartment.

Danny had stopped texting him almost twenty minutes ago. He doesn’t even think to worry. Sometimes Danny will put his phone down somewhere and get distracted doing something. It can be an hour before he remembers to check his phone and respond.

“Danny, I’m home,” Zac calls, closing the door behind him and removing his jacket. He frowns when he doesn’t get a response. He knows Danny is here, but it’s entirely too quiet. Even Danny’s heartbeat is too faint. All the lights are off in the living room, excluding the dim glow coming from the Christmas tree. And there’s a smell...

Zac steps further into the apartment, feeling worry starting to build in him. He walks down the hall and notices a light coming from the bathroom that’s attached to their bedroom.

“Danny?”

There’s still no response. But the smell is stronger now. There’s no way he can deny what it is. _Blood_.

He rushes towards their bathroom, and almost collapses when he’s met with the sight of Danny laying on the tile floor in a pool of blood. His blood. Zac stumbles forward, onto his knees beside Danny. He can still hear his heart beating, but it’s far too slow.

“Danny?”

Danny’s eyes open slowly. They’re glassy and unfocused for a moment before they settle on him. “Zac.”

“I need to call an ambulance,” Zac says. He reaches for his pocket where his phone is, but is stopped by Danny’s hand on his own.

“No time,” Danny tells him. He turns his head to cough, and Zac feels dread pool in his gut at the sight of blood. Danny looks back at him, and there are tears in his eyes. “Zac…”

Zac shakes his head, “No. Don’t. There is time. We’ll get you to the hospital and you’ll be fine.”

“I won’t,” Danny whispers. “You know that. But you need to listen, because this is important.”

Zac nods, feeling his tears start to fall. His fingers are tapping on his phone to one of his colleagues, hoping they can call for help. If Danny wants to talk, he’ll let him. But he’s not giving up.

“A woman was here,” Danny tells him. “She tried to get me to tell her where you were. When I refused she shot me, and then left me here. She said it was a message for you.”

Zac’s eyes flash gold for a moment, and he growls, “Who was she?”

“She said her name was Monroe,” Danny says. “She’s dangerous, Zac. You can’t let her find you.”

Danny coughs again, more blood spilling out into his palm. It’s harder for him to catch his breath.

Zac leans down, bringing his forward to Danny’s. He can hear sirens in the distance. But Danny’s heart is beating far too slow.

“You need to stay with me, Danny.”

“I love you,” Danny whispers. “So much. I’m sorry I have to leave you.”

Zac chokes back a sob, and clutches at the hem of Danny’s shirt, “I love you too.”

Zac kisses him, crying harder when all he can taste is the blood on Danny’s lips. When he pulls back, Danny’s eyes are closed. His lips are curved up into a small smile. Zac can’t hear the quiet thud of his heart anymore. Not over the sound of the ambulance on the street outside.

He brings his head down to Danny’s chest, searching for the sound. It’s not there. “Danny. Please. Come back.”

He stays there, crying and screaming and clutching Danny’s body. Even as the paramedics pound on the door, and make their way inside. He struggles as they try and pull him away from Danny. But eventually collapses back against the wall. His vision is blurred as he watches them lean over Danny, checking for his pulse. One of them shakes their head and the other sighs, looking down at their watch.

He’s heard his fair share of death pronouncements in his time working in the hospital. It’s always been hard. But it’s never felt like this. Like his chest is being split open and his heart ripped from it. He can’t seem to catch his breath. He wonders if this is how he’s going to go.

But of course he’s not that lucky.

He stays there, watching as strangers come and go from the room. A few times they try and talk to him, but the words never register. All he can do is stare at Danny. At his far too still form. When they start zipping him up into the body bag, Zac wants nothing more than to crawl inside it with him. To let them cart them off and bury them together.

Outside the bells of the church down the street chime, signaling it’s midnight. He’s left alone now, with nothing but Danny’s blood on the tile floor to keep him company.

“Merry Christmas, Danny.”

The words are whispered quietly to the empty room. He hopes wherever Danny is he can hear them.

He hears the sound of footsteps in the living room first. Then the smell of gunpowder hits his nose. He knows who it is. He should have known she would come back. Whether it’s to see the result of her dirty work, or to kill him. It doesn’t matter.

He gets to his feet for the first time in what feels like hours, and follows the sound of the heartbeat. One that doesn’t belong in this apartment. He finds her standing in front of the tree. Her back is to him.

“I see you got my present,” she says. She turns her head towards him, her lips lifting into a smirk. “He was so loyal to you. Right until the end. Pity he had to go out like that. He didn’t deserve to die.”

“No,” Zac says, edging slowly towards her. “But you do.”

She shakes her head, “I won’t be the one dying here tonight, Mr. Greenberg.”

“We’ll see about that,” Zac says.

She raises her gun towards him, and he charges. She might kill him. But he was going to make sure to take her down with him. For Danny.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos/Comments make my day. ♥  
> [My tumblr](http://tabbytabbytabby.tumblr.com/)


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